Abstract:
The concept of inclusive education is considerably more than simply the placement of children with a disability into regular classrooms. According to Mittler (1994:2) inclusion "requires radical school reform, changing the existing system and rethinking the entire curriculum of the school in order to meet the needs of all children". It is essential that teacher training institutions provide relevant courses that reflect such a philosophy. This paper outlines a collaborative research project between four teacher training universities (the University of Southern Queensland, the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, and the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa) which investigated pre-service teachers* acceptance of and social interactions with people with a disability. An overview of the project will be given in relation to teacher training in Queensland and South Africa. The use of the Interactions With Disabled Persons Scale (Gething, 1991). and an explanation of the data analysis will be provided in this paper. The main objective of this research is the development and implementation of appropriate preservice training programs for teachers. These research findings will direct the development of future courses at each institution regarding inclusive education.